My Home Coffee Shop
“It’s fine if you don’t like coffee, but to suggest that coffee is inherently unspiritual is . . . well, heresy.” (Randy Alcorn, Heaven)
How Do I Take My Coffee?
Very Seriously...
I didn’t start drinking coffee until 2008 after I moved to Cincinnati. I decided to start because I thought it would help me to socialize when I went somewhere and they asked if I would like coffee.
The beginning of a journey: grocery store brand coffee
Being a tightwad (my brother says I’m tighter than the skin of a hotdog), I started off with Kroger (grocery store) brand coffee. It reminded me of the cadence we used to sing in the army: “they say that in the Army the coffee’s mighty fine; it looks like muddy water and tastes like turpentine.” They should have named it “Victory Coffee”. If you don’t get that reference, you need to read George Orwell’s 1984.
A small step up
I quickly moved up in the world and started drinking Folgers. The best part of waking up was not Folger’s in my cup. It was better than Victory Coffee, but not much.
Finally, real coffee
Then my friend Eric Broyles introduced me to quality coffee: whole bean, organic dark roast from Trader Joe’s and Archer Farm’s brand from Target (I will never forgive Target for discontinuing their Harvest Blend which was objectively the best decaf coffee in the world). I loved it when I first tried it, but I said at the time that I would never pay that kind of money for coffee. I soon came to my senses and stopped kicking against the pricks.
My introduction to the French Press
Next I tried a French Press instead of a drip maker. The same coffee tasted totally different and amazing. Leaving the grounds soak for four minutes instead of a few seconds and retaining the oils that normally get removed in the paper filter makes a huge difference in taste.
Finding a good grinder
I started off with ground coffee, but moved to whole bean using a cheap burr grinder. It was always a pain having to scoop the grounds out of the grinder’s plastic container and clean it. So I started looking for a semi-industrial grinder that I could use to grind the beans directly into my french press. I found the Rancilio Rocky coffee grinder which was some of the best money I have ever spent. I have had it for about 10 years, and it still works like new. It takes so much work out of brewing coffee.
Getting an electric kettle
I used boil water on the stove for my french press until Eric bought me an Aroma electric kettle as a surprise gift. No more pots on the stove for me. The kettle boils it much faster, and I all have to do is hit the button and wait until I hear it pop up which lets me know it’s done.
The Yeti Mug
I love hot coffee, but the problem with regular coffee mugs is that the coffee doesn’t stay hot for long. I asked my wife for a Yeti mug for my birthday. That was the best $25 birthday present I have ever received. It keeps my coffee hot for an hour and a half or more. It also doubles as an awesome ice cream bowl because the ice cream never melts. I highly recommend it.
The Next Level
Coffee Roasting
I like to drink decaf, especially in the evenings. I got tired of not being able to buy good decaf, so I decided to start roasting my own.
My wife did a lot of research and found that the Gene Cafe drum roaster is an excellent choice for home-roasters for the following reasons.
- It is reasonably priced ($625 in 2021).
- It evenly roasts beans using “vortex twisting, off-axis chamber rotation which assures complete distribution of the green coffee during roasting, and consistent roasting results.”
- It has a glass roasting chamber which allows the beans to be observed while roasting.
- It has an exhaust port to vent heat and smoke out a window using an aluminum flex pipe.
Since late 2021, I have roasted hundreds of batches of beans from all over the world. I buy green coffee beans from Sweet Maria’s. They have a large selection of beans, usually including about a half dozen Swiss Water Processed (SWP) decaf beans at any given time.
I roast coffee like I do many other things in life: using a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet method ensures scientific precision, good record keeping, and repeatable results. In it I keep track of the roasting date, type of beans, starting weight, ending weight, weight loss percentage during roasting, starting temperature, 2nd and 3rd temperatures, time lapse between temperature changes, overall roast time, roast level, and coffee flavor rating. I can sort the spreadsheet by any metric so that I can easily see which types of coffee turned out best so that I can know what to buy and how to roast it in the future. I can also print labels with pertinent roasting info with which I label the roasted coffee. If you would like a copy of my spreadsheet to use for your own coffee roasting, just email me on the contact form.
I use an Escali Versi coffee scale to weigh the beans prior to and after roasting. This scale is very precise (0.005 oz) which enables me to determine the exact bean weight loss percentage (due to moisture loss), which is the most scientific way to determine the roast level (light, medium, and dark for non-roasters, and City -, City, City +, Full City, Full City +, and French for roasters). I also use this scale for brewing coffee (more on that later).
The other roasting accessory which I recommend is a bean cooler. The Gene Cafe roaster has a cooling mode, but it doesn’t cool the beans quickly enough. When the beans are roasted to the proper level, I do an emergency stop and immediately put the beans in the electric cooler which cools them to room temperature within two minutes or less. I used to use a strainer to cool the beans outside, but it was a pain in the behind. The cooler does a far greater job and is well worth the money.
Better Brewing
Pouring over….
More to come….
Espresso
Pour-over coffee is still my favorite, but I wanted to try my hand at espresso and specialty drinks.
More to come….
That is a short story of my java journey. Below you will find links to all of the coffee accessories that I have found over the years which greatly enhance my coffee drinking experience.
My Custom Designed Coffee Mugs
I have personally designed these coffee mugs. As you will find out by perusing my website, I love the word of God, and I really like good coffee. So naturally it seemed like a good business idea for me to design coffee mugs with Biblical themes.
Have a look at my designs and see if you find one you like. You will get a cool coffee mug and help keep the lights on at the Wagner house.
Coffee Accessories
Rancilio Rocky Coffee Grinder
No more mess. Grind your beans directly into your French Press or coffee filter. This is some of the best money I have ever spent.
Bodom Chambord French Press – 34oz
This is the best quality French Press I have ever used. I broke the glass in mine by dropping it, so I am currently using a Caribou French Press because it was a gift, but the quality is nothing like the Bodom.
Aroma 6 Cup Cordless Electric Water Kettle
This thing is awesome. It boils water incredibly quickly. The cord is attached to the base, not the kettle, so you can pick it up and go with it. Highly recommended.
Yeti 14oz Coffee Mug
This is the best birthday gift I have ever gotten. It is vacuum insulated, so it keeps my coffee hot for over an hour and a half. It is a must-have.
Yeti 20oz Tumbler
My wife wanted this tumbler instead of the mug. She loves it. It has a magnetic slider lid which is an awesome feature.
Organic Whole Bean Decaf Coffee
Good decaf coffee is hard to find, especially organic natural water processed decaf. This is good decaf at a good price.
